Judging progress can be difficult

October 9, 2011

When it comes to change, judging progress or improvements often proves a tough task.

During Tuesday's special election for governor, voter turnout statewide was about 25 percent. Out of more than 1.2 million eligible voters, less than 300,000 visited the polls to elect the next governor. Here in the Eastern Panhandle, Morgan County was at 23 percent, Jefferson County 20 percent and Berkeley County 18 percent.

Taken at face value, it's hard to get excited about those numbers: One in four people cared enough about state government to vote for the next governor. Compared to 2010's special election for the U.S. Senate race, however, when fewer than 150,000 people voted, West Virginia's voter turnout more than doubled.

We'll call that progress. Can we build on that growth and get more people to the polls in 2012? Probably so.

Each day The Journal pages are full of stories documenting the American people's dissatisfaction with government and many of our elected officials. Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C., can't agree on anything and seem completely out of touch with voters.

We expect voter turnout to be much higher for our next national election. That doesn't mean we will see progress or improvements, but at least we'll be making an effort.

Locally, we're seeing an effort on the intersection of King and Queen streets in Martinsburg. New bricks are being placed and extra effort given to keep those bricks in place once the work is complete. Those of us old enough to remember when brick streets were more common will note that streets then were actually constructed of several layers of bricks and were never smooth and flat. The streets often had a wonderful rolling wave and the bricks acted as mini speed bumps and provided a memorable tune as the tires rolled over them. Can you remember that sound? It wasn't all that uncommon for a brick or section of bricks to work loose. Someone came out and adjusted the bricks, and traffic flow continued.

The intersection at King and Queen streets appears to be one layer of bricks placed on top of concrete with a filler material under and around the single layer of bricks. It's an attractive idea but, honestly, after seeing the design, it's hard to imagine how those bricks will stay in place with the amount of traffic - often heavy vehicles - that passes through the intersection. Freezing weather, snow and snowplows will only add to the issue. Fixing bricks might again become part of the regular routine.

Still, once the entire pedestrian plaza project is complete, we may see the overall improvements. Making the downtown more attractive is progress for the community.

The brick crew isn't the only group struggling in the community. With unemployment around 9 percent and few jobs opening up in the region, more and more families are struggling to make ends meet. To paraphrase a country song, there's always too much month left at the end of the money.

Even in this struggle, though, you can find progress. One example comes from Harmony United Methodist Church on Williamsport Pike in Falling Waters. This week church members were outside the Walmart in Spring Mills collecting food to distribute to struggling families in the county.

Several church members were volunteering. Some stood near the entrance and distributed information that explained the project: They were asking for a donation of a single food item that would then be included in baskets distributed to the families. Others sat near the exits with shopping carts where people could drop off donations upon exiting the store. While dropping off my donation - and a lot of people made donations - I learned that today many church members were missing services to volunteer for home-improvement projects around the community. They were helping those who needed help with minor repairs or with getting ready for winter.

That's the story at Harmony United Methodist. Other churches, civic and social groups are doing the same type of projects. Times are hard, unemployment is climbing higher and we're all worried about the future, but a greater percentage of folks are helping others and thinking about their neighbors. The situation isn't good and the road might be bumpy, but that's still progress. You can see the improvement.